Shoot to Heal
by peevesisawesome
Summary: Post – Scorpia Rising. After the Pleasures are killed by an explosion at their house, Alex is sent back to Britain and gets given a job as an SAS shooting instructor at Brecon Beacons. Here, he meets some old acquaintances and perhaps finally has a chance to heal.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Sorry everyone, had to make a few changes to the second half of this chapter…I forgot to put in some key plot points (silly me!) If you can't be bothered to reread it, basically Alex is going to get a tutor. Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate it!**

**Prologue**

Alex woke up panting and covered in sweat. Once again he'd seen the Jeep burst into flames, the fireball a myriad shades of red and orange. Even though he'd been living with the Pleasures in America for three months now, he still occasionally woke up in the middle of the night, the images of his past lingering in the back of his mind, as if his subconscious was unwilling to adapt to his new peaceful life as an average high school student. Alex hated this weakness but however hard he tried, he was unable to stop the recurring nightmares from plaguing him, especially when he was stressed.

The alarm clock on the bedside table showed him that it was only two in the morning, but knowing that he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep he got dressed and silently crept downstairs into the kitchen. Moonlight shone through the patio doors, softly illuminating the granite worktops. Alex suddenly felt stifled in the house, so he located his coat and a pair of trainers and opened the doors into the garden.

The spring air was still rather chilly at this godforsaken hour, and Alex shoved his hands into his pockets as he trudged down to the bottom of the garden, his breath making clouds in front of him. Sitting on the bench, he let his head fall into his hands as he relived once more the terrible events of his last mission. He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there, revelling in the silence of the early hours of the morning when the rest of the neighbourhood was fast asleep, giving him time to reflect in peace. As much as he loved Sabina, her constant spirit and her need to fill all the silences was sometimes tiring.

He was just about to get up and return to the house, when a noise made him freeze. If it weren't for his finely tuned senses, he probably wouldn't have even heard it, but it was unmistakeably the sound of the front gate being unlatched. A split second of shock, and then Alex was sprinting up the garden, mentally cursing himself for being so careless and cursing the Pleasures for having such a large garden. He had not even managed to get halfway when the explosion went off, throwing Alex off his feet. From his position lying on the grass, winded and in pain, he saw the fireball, just like in his dream, but this time real and even more terrifying, shooting up into the night sky. His last thought before falling unconscious was a single word: _Sabina_.

XXXXXXX

It only took a second after Alex woke up to register that the sheets were a different texture and the light was coming into the room from the wrong direction. Then he was opening his eyes in a panic, already halfway out of bed, to find himself in a hospital room and face-to-face with the director of the CIA, Joe Byrne. It took another second for him to recall the events just preceding his loss of consciousness.

"What happened to the Pleasures? Are they…?" Alex trailed off, unwilling to say it even though deep inside he knew the answer.

"I'm sorry, Alex," said Byrne as sincerely as possible. "Nobody could have survived such an explosion. In fact, I'm wondering why you're not dead as well."

Immediately Alex's face changed, his previous emotion replaced with a blank mask. For Joe Byrne, this abrupt change was deeply unsettling. He of course recognised the mask—as the head of an intelligence organisation he saw it every day—but to see it on a child's face was shocking, to say the least. Alex's eyes had long lost their childhood innocence, but now they were flat and empty, as if shutters had been closed over them.

"I suppose you're here for my report on the incident," Alex said in a careful voice. "I had gone to the bottom of the garden, because I…I wanted some air. I sat there for a while. Then I heard someone unlatching the front gate, so I started to run back to the house…that's when the explosion went off."

"Thank you, Alex," replied Byrne. "Actually, I'm not here just to ask for your report. Mrs Jones wants to speak to you." With these words, he opened the laptop on the bedside table to reveal Mrs Jones' face, sucking on a peppermint. From the limited space around her head, Alex figured that she was sitting in her office at the Royal and General.

"Hello, Alex," said Mrs Jones in a kind voice. "It's nice to see you again. How are you feeling?"

"Let's not pretend you actually care about how I feel, Mrs Jones, and just get down to business, shall we?" replied Alex acidly. "What do you want?"

Mrs Jones looked taken aback by Alex's tone, Byrne even more so, unused as he was to hear Alex being anything less than civil. However, both of them chose to ignore the aspersions.

"Alex, after this attack I don't think you're safe there in America any more. It's not the fault of the intelligence services, I assure you, but I think it would be better if you came back to Britain where we can protect you more easily."

"What, are you going to put me into a safe house or something?" asked Alex sceptically.

"Not exactly," said Mrs Jones. "The SAS at Brecon Beacons have recently asked MI6 to provide them with a new training instructor. I can send you for the job, which would be mutually beneficial to both parties: the SAS would get their instructor and you'd be sufficiently protected by the soldiers and camp security. You can also use this opportunity to work on your strength and fitness. Alex, you must see that it's dangerous for you and for those around you if you refuse to cooperate."

Alex knew that what Mrs Jones was saying was true, but it still hurt to know that he was a danger to those around him. He also knew that he didn't have any alternatives. Everyone he loved was dead now, and he couldn't burden anyone else with looking after him, not when the price could be their life.

"Seeing as I don't have much choice, I'm not going to put up much of a fight. All I'm asking for is that I'm given the standard salary and benefits of an SAS instructor, but I also want to be able to continue with my education. Also, I'd like to know what exactly I'm meant to be teaching the recruits."

"Thank you, Alex, I'm sure your requirements can be met." said Mrs Jones, looking rather relieved that he accepted so quickly. "Your specific role is to be a weapons and shooting instructor, but you'll probably be asked to assist in other roles if necessary. Your…unofficial training…may come in handy."

Alex winced, knowing that she was referring to his time training in Malagosto with Scorpia, a period in his life which he preferred not to think about. From Byrne's confused expression, it seemed as if he was unaware of this particular episode.

"As for your education," continued Mrs Jones, "I'm sure we could find a tutor for you, but it might take some time to find someone suitable."

"That's fine. So, when do I start?" he asked.

"You will be discharged now and then driven to the local heliport, where there is a helicopter waiting. The flight will bring you straight to the SAS training grounds at Brecon Beacons at approximately 0700 hours tomorrow morning, local time. You will report to the Sergeant and start work immediately."

"Alright," sighed Alex, resigned to the fact that his foreseeable future would be spent in the wet Welsh countryside, a place he hoped he would never see again.

"Goodbye, Alex," said Mrs Jones, "and…good luck."


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: The next chapter of Shoot to Heal, as promised **** don't forget to leave a review! Thanks x**

**Disclaimer (because I forgot last time): None of the characters are mine, they all belong to AH.**

**Chapter 1**

The Sergeant would never admit it to anyone, but he had been impressed the first time Alex Rider came to Brecon Beacons. Having been told next to nothing about the boy, he assumed, like many of the soldiers, that the kid was the son of some rich man who couldn't be bothered to look after his children himself. However, Rider surpassed all expectations, never complaining even though the training was gruelling and his fellow trainees acted appallingly towards him.

Now he was being told that the same boy was coming back as an instructor, barely a year after he had first attended training here! The Sergeant had been assured multiple times by Mrs Jones herself that the boy was more than capable for the job, but this in itself raised uncomfortable questions. What child was proficient enough with a gun to be able to teach the nation's best soldiers? Especially when the last time the child was here, he hadn't even been allowed to go to the firing range! Despite his misgivings, the Sergeant had had no choice but to accept MI6's decision. After all, Mrs Jones did outrank him, and if there was one thing a soldier respected, it was rank.

He pulled Alex's file towards him and reread the contents for the umpteenth time. The file was noticeably thinner than what he was used to, and even with his high security clearance there were large patches of censoring. The only information of interest that he learnt was that Cub was in fact an MI6 agent and that he had had some other training in a censored location with a censored person or organisation. It was frustrating to say the least.

The Sergeant was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Enter," he called out in a gruff voice, not looking up from his perusal of the file. He heard someone come in and stand to attention, and then finally lifted his eyes from Cub's photo to see an almost identical face staring at him. What shocked the Sergeant was the difference between this and the photo, which he noted had only been taken the year before. It was not just the blankness of his current expression, but the fact that Cub's eyes were cold and empty. Although he had never seemed childlike, he now looked aged well beyond his years, his eyes belying the experiences he had been through.

Ever the practical man, the Sergeant shook himself out of his musings.

"At ease, soldier," he commanded, and Alex relaxed somewhat, although he still looked tense.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush here. I'm not happy that MI6 has dumped you on me again, even if it's as a favour, you being an instructor and all. Even if I accept the situation, I can give no guarantee that the other soldiers will be so kind—though they'll keep it out of my sight if they know what's good for them," he growled. "You'd better live up to what Jones has said about you; otherwise I'm sending you back to wherever you came from, even if it costs me my job. I can't have some idiot failing to teach my men lifesaving skills, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" came the swift reply, Alex's eyes remaining straight ahead like it had been drilled into him the last time he was here.

"Good," said the Sergeant gruffly. "I've arranged for all the men currently training here to meet at the shooting range in ten minutes. I want you to prove to them—and to me—that you're capable of doing your job. Then, if I approve, you can have the rest of the day off, because it's your first day and that's standard procedure for new instructors. I will expect you to be using the time to familiarise yourself with the paperwork and learning your new timetable."

"I'm sure you'll find no fault with my skills, sir," replied Alex with a small upturning of the lips.

"Well, that remains to be seen. Follow me, Cu- Agent Rider. We're going into the lion's den." With those ominous words, the Sergeant got up from behind his desk and left his cabin, Alex following behind him.

They soon reached the firing range, where there was already a large group of soldiers waiting. The soldiers turned at the sound of approaching footsteps and immediately stood to attention once they had seen the Sergeant, but they were all staring at Alex, wondering what a child was doing in an SAS camp.

The Sergeant cleared his throat. "This is your new instructor, Agent Rider," he said, gesturing towards Alex. Immediately the men started whispering to one another, the confusion on their faces slowly turning into anger.

"Silence!" shouted the Sergeant, and immediately the muttering stopped, although the soldiers still looked mutinous. "I don't care what you may be thinking, the Head of MI6 has assured me that the kid is up to the job and until I see otherwise, he will be given the same respect as any of your other instructors. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" came the chorus of voices.

"Okay, Cub, show me what you've got," muttered the Sergeant out of the corner of his mouth, before turning to address the soldiers again. "Agent Rider will be giving a demonstration of his skills. Pay attention."

Alex moved over to the rows of weapons and chose a gun at random. Holding it in his hands, he moved until he was standing with his back to the targets, facing the SAS men. Their expressions were still not pleased, to say the least, and Alex knew that he had to prove himself otherwise his stay here would be even worse than last time.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, shutting out the stares of everyone around him. He relaxed his shoulders and let his instincts take over, his hands flying over the parts as he dismantled and reassembled the gun like he had been trained to. Once he was finished, he opened his eyes to see the men staring at him, jaws slack. His eyes flickered over to the Sergeant, and Alex was amused to see that he too had an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Hopefully by the time I've finished training you, some of you may be able to equal that time," said Alex evenly. "However, the next skill I'm going to be showing you is not covered by SAS training, and it is unlikely that any of you will learn this."

He quickly glanced over his shoulder to ensure that the coast was clear, before turning round again to face the soldiers. He suddenly pointed the gun behind him and let off three shots in swift succession. When the targets were brought in, the soldiers were amazed to find three perfect bull's-eyes. The mutterings started up again, but this time the men were in awe, marvelling at Alex's skills.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" asked one particularly brave soldier at the front.

"Classified," answered Alex shortly, his face blank. "That is the end of the demonstration. Dismissed!"

The soldiers grumbled but left slowly, still talking to each other about the display they'd just witnessed. The Sergeant waited until they had all gone out of earshot before turning to face Alex, who was staring mournfully at the targets.

"Well, I've got to hand it to you, Cub—that was an impressive show. I won't ask how you learnt that, because you're obviously not telling, but I'd like to send some of my men there if that's how they all turn out!"

Alex winced, before replying in a low voice, "I don't think you'd say that if you knew the truth."

The Sergeant was once again shocked by the tone, unused to seeing someone so young sounding so world-weary. Knowing better than to pry, he cleared his throat uneasily and said: "Well, you've earned your day off. You're in cabin 7—you'll find your timetable in there and all the other relevant stuff and I believe that someone came by earlier to drop off your things."

"Thank you, sir," said Alex quietly, still not completely shaken out of his musings, and headed off in the direction of his cabin, leaving the Sergeant behind to stare after him with a small amount of concern, not that he would admit it to anyone else. Because despite his tough exterior, the Sergeant did truly have his soldiers' best intentions at heart, and it worried him to see Alex like this.

**A/N: Yeah, you go Alex! Show'em who's boss **** On a more serious note, next chapter will have lots of angsty Alex…hopefully. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, this week was pretty busy. It's a bit shorter than usual, but I felt it got to a good stopping point. Enjoy **

**Chapter 2**

Alex made his way towards his cabin, still thinking about what the Sergeant had said. Without knowing quite how he got there, he found himself standing outside his cabin door. He walked in, automatically taking in every detail of the room, and sat down on the bed. _I'd like to send some of my men there if that's how they all turn out,_ was what the Sergeant had said. But how exactly had Alex turned out? Who was he? A superspy with a 100% record? A hero? Or was he actually something a lot more sinister? _A cold-blooded murderer_ whispered a voice inside his head, and Alex could not deny it. How many people had he killed, people who had their own families who would mourn their deaths? Was Alex even human anymore, or had his blank emotionless mask taken over his mind, so that he could no longer feel? After all, just yesterday his entire foster family had been killed, and Alex had not shed a single tear for them.

Suddenly there was a great pain in his chest, and before he knew it, he was sobbing into his pillow, his body heaving with suppressed emotion. He cried for Edward and Liz, who had taken him in when there was no one else for him to turn to, who had treated him like their own son despite the danger he brought with him. They had paid for their generosity with their lives. He cried for Sabina, who had held him in her arms that first night, when he had woken up from a nightmare to an unfamiliar house. She had shown him how to live again, even though her friends mocked her for hanging out with someone two years younger. She had made him laugh for the first time since Jack's death. Now she had been taken away from him too.

Eventually his sobs subsided, and Alex wiped his eyes before looking at his watch. He was surprised to see that it was already lunchtime, and even though he was not particularly hungry he got up and started making his way to the mess hall. On the way there, he carefully reconstructed his blank mask until only his slightly puffy eyes left any indication of the emotional turmoil he had been in just minutes ago. As he entered and made his way over to the queue, he heard the whispers of the soldiers starting up around him. _It's just like school again_, thought Alex wryly. He patiently waited for his turn to receive the slop that they called food, before moving to the emptiest corner of the room to eat his meal in silence. Having quickly forced the meal down, he got up, put away his tray and left. The entire time, he didn't make eye contact with a single person.

Returning to his cabin, Alex decided to settle himself in and familiarise himself with what he was supposed to do. The cabin was slightly smaller than the one he had shared with K Unit, and contained a bed and a small bedside cabinet on one side and a desk on the other. Alex noticed that next to his bed was a black duffel bag, which he had seen the first time he came in but, in his haze of thoughts, hadn't registered. _At least MI6 had had the decency to replace some of my things_, he thought. Starting to unpack, Alex found two sets of standard military kit, some underwear, a towel and a bag of toiletries. Not a single piece of civilian clothing in sight. _Typical bloody MI6_ thought Alex angrily. Picking up the empty bag in frustration, Alex suddenly realised something. The supposedly empty bag was heavier than it should be. Closely examining the lining, he found a loose thread and pulled hard, resulting in the bottom of the bag splitting open to reveal another hidden compartment. Inside, there was a package with a note attached:

_Dear Alex,_

_I'm sorry to hear about the deaths of the Pleasures, especially after what happened to Jack. I thought you might need something to remind you of civilisation whilst you're at BB, so I did some rooting around on the computer and found these. Hope you appreciate them._

_Yours,_

_Smithers_

Alex smiled sadly, glad to know that at least Smithers still cared about him. Opening the package, Alex found a simple silver three-picture photo frame, with a picture of his parents holding him as a baby on the left, a picture of him as a ten-year-old with Jack and Ian in the middle, and a recent picture of him with the Pleasures on the right. Silently thanking Smithers, Alex carefully placed the photo frame on his bedside table.

Sighing, he turned away from the happy images to look at the folders lined up neatly on the shelf above his desk. Each folder contained a record of a unit's shooting scores from their weekly lessons, as well as any extra notes. Alex spent the afternoon carefully reading about each member of each unit, taking note of their strengths and weaknesses. He also found a large file containing the learning requirements for SAS training, and spent a good few hours devising lesson plans for the coming weeks. Eventually he finished, and Alex went to bed with a feeling of accomplishment and a faint hopefulness for the future.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: New character introduced in this chapter **** Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, apart from Robert Meadows and the plotline. The rest belongs to Anthony Horowitz.**

**Chapter 3**

As a private tutor, Robert Meadows had had some wealthy clients, so he had signed his fair share of non-disclosure agreements, and gone into jobs with limited information about his new pupil. As a result, when he received a proposal to teach 'an intelligent 15-year-old boy', he did not let the lack of information put him off the tempting salary being offered. However, he was not expecting to sign the Official Secrets Act, before being whisked away to a military training facility.

When he arrived, he had been shown into one of the cabins, where he met his pupil for the first time. Robert Meadows had got the feeling that the boy was not stupid, as so many of his past students undoubtedly were. Once they started talking about his knowledge so far, Robert Meadows was glad to see that his initial instinct was correct. Not only did the boy (whose name he learnt was Alex) have a keen mind and a will to learn, he was also fluent in several languages. Their lessons progressed swiftly, and Alex often gained full marks in the homework that was set.

However, at the same time Robert Meadows did feel slightly uneasy about his new pupil. There were several things that seemed a bit off about the situation: firstly, what child lived in a military camp? Then there were the unexplained events that occurred. As they were walking from one cabin to another on the first day, a passing soldier stopped and saluted at Alex. The boy nodded at him with a wry smile, before continuing forwards. Another time, a soldier came in during a lesson, saying that 'Agent Rider' was requested at the Sergeant's office, to which Alex replied that he would 'be there in a minute', before excusing himself and following the soldier out of the room.

Robert Meadows was not foolish. From the few clues he picked up here and there, he had formed a theory as to who Alex really was. However, as a man who had placed much faith in the state, he was almost unwilling for his theory to be true, as it would mean that the world was a lot darker than he had previously imagined it to be. In the end, he decided that he would confront Alex about it. If Alex denied all of it, he would stop asking.

Change of perspective

Alex had now been at Brecon Beacons for a few weeks. He had settled into a regular schedule, which involved going for a run or practising his martial arts in the morning before teaching, followed by more teaching after lunch and then his own lessons with his tutor, Mr Meadows. He would then do his homework and any paperwork in the evenings before going to bed. The busy days usually left him exhausted, which helped to keep the nightmares away.

In his first lesson with Mr Meadows, they had decided that he would take English, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French, German, Spanish, History, and Philosophy and Ethics for GCSE. He was already fluent in all of the languages, which would no doubt help reduce his workload, considering how little time he had and how behind he was. The Philosophy and Ethics had been Mr Meadows' idea, as he had said that it helped him to understand his pupils better, and Alex had accepted his choice.

This afternoon, Alex was going to have a Philosophy and Ethics lesson. He actually found this subject quite interesting, as he compared the dodgy ethics of his life to the accepted moral values. However, when the lesson started Alex had noticed that Mr Meadows seemed to have something else on his mind.

"Mr Meadows, is there something wrong?" asked Alex. "You look rather distracted today."

Mr Meadows started a bit, before replying, "Actually, I was wondering something. I don't know how to put it nicely, so I'll just be blunt: are you a spy?"

On the exterior, Alex's expression did not change, but inside he was very surprised. He mentally decided what to do. It would be easy for him to brush off the allegations and perhaps protect government secrets, but on the other hand, when had the government ever done anything for him? Also, if this complete stranger could guess Alex's secret, he had to know how Mr Meadows had found out, so that he could stop other, more dangerous, people from doing the same.

"I won't lie to you, Mr Meadows. Yes, I used to work for MI6, but I stopped a few months ago. I'd just like to know, how did you find out?"

Mr Meadows explained his suspicions, and Alex was astonished by how observant he was. He secretly thought that Mr Meadows could have made a good spy.

"I just can't believe that the government would allow such a thing to occur," exclaimed Mr Meadows after a while. "You're fifteen, for god's sake! What were your parents thinking?"

"My parents died when I was a baby. I was brought up by my uncle, who died when I was fourteen. That was when I was approached by MI6. There wasn't anyone to tell me not to do it," said Alex.

"I'm sorry, Alex, that was insensitive of me," said Mr Meadows, his heart going out to the orphaned boy. "I suppose I was just so shocked that nobody objected to it."

"Mr Meadows, the world isn't as black and white as you might think it is," replied Alex solemnly. "Both sides use dirty tactics. It's the only way to survive."

With this statement, Alex turned back to his books, and Robert Meadows took the hint to resume the lesson, even though inside he was still reeling from his realisation. Although he himself did not have any children, he loved his niece like his own daughter and he could not imagine her ever having to suffer through what this boy must have undoubtedly been through. He vowed that he would do everything in his power to make sure that this boy was protected from being exploited in this way again. He would be the person to tell him not to do it in the future.

**A/N: Yay, another chapter finished! K-Unit will be in the next chapter **

**Don't forget to review!**

**Peeves**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: SOOO sorry for not updating! Hopefully K Unit will make it up to you :P**

**Disclaimer: K Unit is not mine, neither is anything else you recognise.**

**Chapter 4**

Alex woke early, as usual. He got dressed quickly in the cool morning air, before going outside for his morning run. With his feet pounding away, Alex felt relaxed and able to focus his mind on other matters, such as his new class today. He had been taken out of his lessons with Mr Meadows last week to see the Sergeant, who had told him that an old unit was coming back to Brecon Beacons for a few weeks to reintegrate an old member. There was a niggling feeling at the back of Alex's mind that the Sergeant seemed to know something else, something which he had chosen not to share with Alex. As much as he thought over the issue, Alex couldn't work out what he was missing. Eventually, after running 10 km, Alex stopped and walked to the showers, where he took advantage of the emptiness at this time to strip off without everyone staring at his numerous scars.

Once he had eaten his breakfast, he went down to the shooting range to prepare his lesson. Having already qualified, this unit would only require a brush-up on their skills, rather than learning them from scratch, so Alex was devising an entirely new lesson plan. After about ten minutes, he heard several pairs of footsteps coming towards the weapons room. He turned round, ready to welcome his new students, and froze in shock. Similarly, the four men who had just entered the room also stared, jaws dropping, at the sight of their instructor. This was because the four men were none other than K Unit.

Alex suddenly realised what had been nagging him the entire time since his meeting with the Sergeant. Of course, the Sergeant would find it amusing not to mention the small detail that the unit he would be teaching was none other than the one he had trained with last time he was at Brecon Beacons. His expression changed from shock to understanding and resignation, before becoming slightly confused at the sight of Ben Daniels, who Alex thought still worked for MI6.

Whilst Alex was going through his mental epiphany, the members of K Unit were undergoing their own silent thought processes. All of them originally being in shock, Wolf gradually turned angry, whilst Eagle and Snake turned rather cold. Ben, on the other hand, started smiling.

Wolf was the first one to break the silence. "Cub, what the hell are you doing here?" he fumed.

"I am your new shooting instructor, Wolf, and I would prefer it if you address me as Agent Rider," replied Alex calmly.

Wolf uttered an inarticulate cry of anger, but before he could complain, Alex spoke again.

"I assume that you are reintegrating Ben into your unit?"

"Well, Alex, if I'm to call you Agent Rider you'd better start calling me Fox," laughed Ben. "And yeah, I'm the one that's dragged everyone back here. I decided after that mission with you that I wasn't really cut out for spy work, so here I am, back in the SAS."

"I hope I didn't put you off or anything," joked Alex, smiling.

During this exchange, the rest of K Unit looked on in shock, wondering at their familiarity and their knowledge of each other's names. Suddenly, Wolf dragged Fox out of the room, with the rest of the unit following. The door slammed shut behind them, but Alex could still hear their muffled voices, Wolf angry and Fox placating. Gradually, Wolf's voice decreased in volume, and the voices of the other unit members could also be heard indistinctly.

Alex waited patiently, hoping that Fox could explain the situation sufficiently to keep them off his back for the next few days. Eventually the four of them re-entered the room, Wolf significantly calmer than when he had left. Snake seemed to be looking at Alex in awe, whilst Eagle started asking questions as soon as he came in.

"So, Cub, you're a secret teenage spy, are you? That's so cool! Why didn't you tell us last time, I mean, I assume that's why you were here training with us, right? Do you get awesome gadgets and stuff? That would be amazing, you could-"

"Eagle, shut up," interjected Wolf. Eagle pouted, but remained silent.

"Thank you, Wolf," said Alex, slightly startled by how different Eagle's personality was from the last time he had seen him. "Shall we continue with our lesson?"

"Actually, I only shut him up so I could ask some _serious_ questions," said Wolf, turning to address Alex. "So I'm guessing that Point Blanc wasn't a one-off like I thought it was, then?"

"No, not really," agreed Alex. His vain hope to continue the lesson uninterrupted was fast disappearing, but he had thought of an idea that would let him get through the lesson and also sate their curiosity. "How about if you don't ask me any questions for the rest of the lesson, I'll let you have a Q and A session with me and my tutor this evening at 5? I'm pretty sure he has some questions that he wants to ask as well."

Despite some initial grumbling, K Unit quickly realised that this would be the best offer they were going to get, so they let the matter drop and concentrated on their lesson. They were surprised to find that Alex was an excellent teacher, informative and quick to identify mistakes and correct them. They left the lesson feeling much more confident in their shooting skills than when they had arrived.

**A/N: So, what did you think about the first appearance of K Unit? Please tell me in a review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Update: Sorry, had to make some changes **

**A/N: To make up for the lack of updates, another chapter today!**

**Chapter 5**

Eventually 5 o'clock came, and K Unit found themselves walking towards cabin 7. Wolf knocked on the door, which was swiftly answered by Alex. The team introduced themselves to Mr Meadows and arranged themselves around the room.

Once everyone was settled, Alex spoke. "OK, I'm going to let you ask me some questions, but everything I say stays within this room. And if I don't want to answer then I won't, alright?"

"Why not?" complained Eagle.

"Because there are some things which I'd prefer not to talk about right now," replied Alex, mentally making a list of such events, "so could you please respect that?"

They all murmured their assent, and then Wolf began the questioning.

"So how old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"Seriously? I always thought you were older," said Snake thoughtfully, Wolf and Eagle nodding in agreement. Alex didn't comment.

"How many missions have you been on, with what success rate?" asked Fox.

"Um…" Alex counted them up in his head. "Nine, I think. 100% success rate."

"_Nine?_" exclaimed Eagle. "How old were you when you started?"

"I was fourteen. MI6 asked me just after my uncle died."

"Wait, so you've completed nine missions in a year? But that's impossible, agents are meant to get at least a month's leave between missions, it's part of the contract," stated Fox.

"It's not like MI6 ever cared about my rights at any point. They haven't even paid me, let alone give me benefits like leave," replied Alex bitterly. "They just call me in whenever they want, and that's that. Mr Meadows will tell you how behind I am in school work because of them."

Mr Meadows nodded solemnly. "Alex has missed so much school it's surprising that he's anywhere near the standards he's achieving right now. If he weren't as bright as he is, it would be a serious struggle for him to do his GCSEs on time. As it is, he'll have to work very hard, especially with his teaching to do as well."

"But that's illegal!" said Snake. "It's one thing to employ you, which I'm not even particularly comfortable with, but then to not even give you what you're due…it's immoral! Do they even give you psych evals after missions?"

"Umm…no?" said Alex. Seeing that Snake was about to protest again, he continued: "It's not like I can take MI6 to court and complain about my treatment, no one would ever believe me."

Throughout this conversation, Wolf had been surprisingly quiet. Now he asked another question. "So, you know how twisted MI6 are. I don't understand—why did you keep going back to them? Hell, why did you even start in the first place?"

"It's not like they gave me much of a choice," said Alex angrily. "After my uncle died, I only had Jack, my housekeeper, left. They threatened not to renew her visa and send me to a children's home if I didn't cooperate. Jack was like a sister to me, so what could I say?"

"But that's blackmail!" said Fox, "Although from what I've heard now, I'm not surprised. I'm so glad I got out of there now."

"What about your parents? What happened to them?" asked Eagle.

"They died when I was a baby," replied Alex.

K Unit muttered their apologies, which Alex acknowledged with a nod.

"So, what happened? How did you get out of working for them?" asked Wolf.

Alex's face went blank, as he hid his feelings behind his familiar mask.

"They lost their bargaining chip," he answered, voice cold and devoid of emotion.

There was a pause, as the others worked out what Alex had meant and the painful truth dawned on them.

"I'm so sorry, Alex," said Fox finally. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not now," replied Alex truthfully, a small part of him surprised that Fox cared that much about him.

"So you've never had any leave since a year ago?" asked Eagle, changing the subject quickly. "If that's true, I've got the best idea ever!"

"What is it?" asked Alex warily.

"Let's go ask the Sergeant if you can go on leave this weekend! We could all go to London together!"

"That's actually a surprisingly good idea," said Wolf, contemplating the possibilities. Not receiving any objections, K Unit went to find the Sergeant.

When the Sergeant had heard K Unit's proposal, he had to admit that he thought it was a good idea. After all, it couldn't be healthy for a kid to stay in a military camp forever. However, he also knew that Alex was here to be protected against unknown enemies, and taking him out of the protection of the camp would be dangerous. In the end, he came up with an acceptable plan.

"I will allow Agent Rider to leave camp on one condition. You will act as his protection at all times, including at night, and I expect you to treat him as if he were the Prime Minister. If anything happens to him on leave, if he gets as much as a papercut, you will be held accountable and will be binned on return. Do I make myself clear?"

If K Unit were surprised by their instructions, they did not show it, answering immediately with a chorus of "Yes, sir".

They then left the cabin, to find Alex and tell him the Sergeant's decision, as well as to see if he could explain why he was so high risk.

**A/N: Excited to see what'll happen in London (Tom will be in the next chapter)? Then please review!**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Et voila, my loyal followers—the next chapter in the story! It's longer than usual, so I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Apart from the plot.**

**Chapter 6**

Alex fended off K Unit's questions with vague answers about 'making dangerous enemies', until he was finally left alone to go to bed in peace. However, it seemed that thinking about Jack, the forbidden territory in his mind, had caused some barrier to break inside his head. He was plagued with nightmares, reliving her final moments over and over again, until eventually he gave up, getting out of bed and sitting outside his cabin in the early morning air, lost in his thoughts. This was the position K Unit found him in later that morning, as they went past his cabin to pick him up.

"Cub?" asked Fox, waving a hand in front of Alex's face. Startled, Alex's instincts took over, grabbing hold of Ben's hand in a vice-like grip, and using the element of surprise to sweep his legs out from underneath him and twisting his arm painfully behind his back. The rest of K Unit started forwards to help their comrade, but stopped at the growl that sounded from Alex's lips. As he looked up with blank eyes, he did not seem to recognise them, merely assuming they were another threat.

"Alex?" called Ben from the ground. It seemed that the use of his name triggered something in Alex's mind, as recognition sparked in his eyes and he looked down at where Ben was lying. In a split second, Alex had let go of Ben and was apologising to him.

"I'm so sorry, Ben, I don't know what came over me, I was startled and-"

"Don't worry, Alex," smiled Ben, massaging his shoulder. "I'm just surprised that I managed to spook you. Don't you usually hear me coming from a mile away?"

"I guess I was just…preoccupied," sighed Alex, before turning away. Behind him, Ben exchanged worried glances with the rest of his unit. "I'll go get my stuff and meet you guys by the gate."

As K Unit walked towards the gate, the only entrance and exit into the SAS camp, they discussed the morning's events in low tones, so that the other soldiers going about their morning business didn't overhear.

"What was that?" whispered Eagle. "He wasn't so twitchy yesterday."

"Did you see how tired he looked?" asked Snake. "It was like he spent the entire night awake or something."

"Something's definitely wrong," agreed Fox. "I don't know what it is, but I don't like it." The rest of them nodded their heads, silently agreeing to get to the bottom of this.

Meanwhile, Alex was in his cabin. _What is wrong with me?_ He had never lost control like that before. _But you've never had such a bad night either_, whispered a voice in his head. Shaking himself, Alex tried to forget about what happened and went around putting his few possessions back in his duffel bag, before going to join K Unit again.

As he neared the gate, he saw the four men standing impatiently in front of the exit.

"Finally!" cried Wolf, upon spotting Alex coming over. "Hurry up, our ride's here." He gestured behind him at a bright red Jeep. In the world of espionage, there were few coincidences, but this was one of them. It just so happened that the Jeep currently idling behind Wolf was the exact same model as the one that Jack had driven to her death in.

As soon as Alex saw the Jeep, he paled, his subconscious mind drawing him into that horrible memory. He started shaking, his bag dropping to the ground beside him with a loud thump. All eyes turned to him, before widening as they saw his condition.

"No!" he shouted, taking a step forward, "Get away from it! Please! Don't go in…" His voice trailed off as he collapsed onto his knees.

"Alex? What's wrong with the car?" asked Fox frantically, thinking Alex had seen something the others hadn't.

"Plastic explosives under the seat…" whispered Alex, his eyes glazed over. Fox made to look under the seat, but the next sentence stopped him. "Stop, Jack! NO! Turn back, don't go in, it's a trap! Please, listen to me!" He flinched violently, his whole body shuddering.

Suddenly, Fox understood the situation, whilst the others looked on in confusion. "Snake, he's having a flashback!" he shouted.

Immediately, Snake snapped into medic mode. He slowly made his way over to Alex, arms raised to show that he was not a threat. "Cub, it's OK, you're safe, no-one's hurting you, the car's fine." Snake continued murmuring similar comforting phrases as he knelt down in front of Alex, blocking the Jeep from view. Slowly, Alex's shaking subsided and the glazed look in his eyes disappeared. He suddenly became aware of Snake kneeling in front of him, with the rest of the unit staring at him.

"I-" Alex didn't know what to say. Getting up, he wordlessly picked his bag up off the ground and forced himself towards the Jeep.

"What just happened?" asked Eagle, finally.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Alex firmly, in a voice that brooked no argument. He opened the rear door and climbed inside the vehicle, leaving K Unit to look at each other in confusion.

"Let's give him some time, guys," said Snake. "He's probably feeling slightly humiliated right now, breaking down in front of us. We'll wait until we get to London before we confront him."

The journey was spent in awkward silence, occasionally broken by Eagle's terrible singing and Wolf's growls for him to 'shut up before I make you'. Eventually, they neared their destination.

"So, where should we go?" asked Wolf from the driver's seat.

"I'm hungry," complained Eagle. "Can we go eat somewhere?"

"I'm hungry too," said Ben from the backseat, where he was sitting with Alex and Snake.

Eventually they agreed on a small café that they were driving past. They parked the Jeep on a side road and got out, stretching after the long journey. Immediately, K Unit got into formation, surrounding Alex on all sides as they walked along the pavement. Passers-by gave them weird looks as they stepped off the kerb to walk around them.

"Seriously, guys," spoke up Alex from the middle of the group. "This is attracting way too much attention. If S- if my enemies didn't know where to look before, I'm sure the four bodyguards surrounding the teenage boy wouldn't give it away at all," he added sarcastically.

"Then what do you suggest?" asked Wolf irritably from the front. "We have orders from the Sergeant-"

"Which won't be much use if I end up dead," interjected Alex. "Just, I don't know, pretend to act normal, like I'm your nephew or something, yeah? And keep your eyes peeled for suspicious activity."

Wolf almost gagged at the thought of being _related_ to the kid, but saw that he had a point and ordered his men out of formation. The rest of lunch passed uneventfully, apart from the waitress getting way too flirty with Eagle, much to his horror and his unit's amusement.

Once they'd finished, they walked back to the car, Alex not being able to suppress an involuntary shudder at the sight of it again. This did not pass unnoticed by the soldiers.

"So, Alex, do you want to talk-"

"Why don't I show you guys my old house?" asked Alex, desperately trying to stop the conversation heading towards uncomfortable topics. "It's quite near here, actually…"

Before the soldiers could react, Alex had crossed to the other side of the road, and they were obliged to follow him. He led them down a couple of turns, before slowing to a stop. K Unit found themselves on a quiet residential road, with spacious houses lining both sides. A couple of houses down, a young family was just walking out the door, the parents and their two small children laughing and smiling.

"That is—was—my house," said Alex, looking at the young family with an unreadable expression on his face. He turned away, and found himself looking at a dark-haired teenager walking towards him with his head down. _It couldn't be…_

At that moment, the teenager raised his head. Shock, confusion and happiness passed across his face, before settling on anger.

"Tom?" asked Alex tentatively.

Without a moment's notice, Tom Harris launched himself at Alex, pummelling him with his fists. It took most of what was left of Alex's control not to react to his friend and do something he would regret. K Unit looked on in confusion, but a slight shaking of Alex's head told them not to intervene. Eventually Tom slowed down, panting heavily.

"I'm sorry, Tom-"

"Sorry? Alex, you and Jack left almost four months ago without a single word! You didn't tell me where you were going or anything, so I just figured it was another one of your…jobs…again, and left it at that. But then out of nowhere, your house goes up for sale and I _still_ don't hear from you! I thought you were _dead_! And you're _sorry_?!"

"Tom, you don't understand, I was preoccupied-"

"Too preoccupied to even call your _only friend_ and tell him you were still alive? After you disappeared, everyone assumed 'druggie Rider' had gone and ODed or got dumped in juvie! I was the _only person_ to defend you! Now—now I wish I hadn't."

Alex gasped. He knew that Tom was angry, and he deserved to be, but the words still stung. After all, what Tom had said was true—he really was Alex's only friend, and as such, his opinion mattered even more.

"I'm surprised Jack let you ignore me for so long," continued Tom ruthlessly. "I always thought she was better than that. It seems like I was wrong."

At once, Alex turned angry, his blood boiling. "Don't you _dare_ insult Jack like that ever again, Harris," he snarled.

"Why? What happened?" Tom seemed taken aback by Alex's sudden change in demeanour. Being friends for as long as they had, he knew something was wrong. Looking around, he noticed the four SAS men for the first time, as well as the distinct lack of Jack's presence. "Where is she, Alex?"

At that question, Alex seemed to deflate. "She's d-dead," he whispered in a broken voice.

At once, Tom's anger evaporated, seeing his friend looking so vulnerable in front of him. In his mind, he remembered all the times Jack had been there for him, just because he was Alex's friend. Suddenly, he felt such guilt for all the things he'd just said to Alex, and about Jack. His shoulders slumped, and he hung his head in shame.

"I'm sorry, Alex, I had no idea…"

Alex smiled weakly. "No, Tom, I deserved it. I'm sorry for forgetting about you."

A look of understanding passed between the two boys, and suddenly they were hugging each other, laughing in relief at the saving of their friendship and crying for Jack's loss at the same time.

**A/N: Sorry if Tom's a bit OOC, I just thought that thinking his best friend was dead and then finding out that he wasn't would make him a bit angry…He should be back to normal by next chapter, though **


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm SO sorry for the long wait! Hope you enjoy **

**Chapter 7**

K Unit felt awkward viewing the private moment between the two teens, but at the same time they were intrigued. After all, this was probably the most emotion Cub had shown the entire time that he had been with the SAS, minus the incident that morning. As a result, they were intently watching the scene in front of them so they didn't see the man on the other side of the road doing a double take as he walked past, before taking his mobile out and making a call.

-Change in POV-

When Ross had joined Scorpia, he thought that it would be a lot more glamorous than hanging around Chelsea waiting for some teenager to turn up, so that he could call the higher-ups to deal with him. However, it turned out that all the 'newbies' got the worst jobs out there, so here he was, walking down the street absentmindedly looking for a kid he thought would never turn up. So you can imagine his surprise when there, across the road, was the exact same kid he was meant to be looking for, hanging out with some other guys. Finally, a chance to prove himself and get something fun to do next time! So without further ado, he took out the phone Scorpia had given him and dialled the number he had memorised weeks ago.

"_Hello?"_

"Target has been located, sir," said Ross, his excitement mounting. "He's with four men and a teenager."

"_Good, good…keep me updated with his whereabouts, I am sending in a team as we speak. You will be withdrawn from the area soon."_

The person on the other end hung up, and Ross smirked as he pocketed the phone. _Next assignment, here I come…_

-Back to Alex-

Tom and Alex had decided to go to the park, where they could talk in peace without the background noise of Tom's parents, who still hadn't managed to get a divorce. Now Alex was catching up on all the Brooklands gossip that he had missed when he was away.

"Josh and Katie got together again after Lauren's birthday party, but then she caught him with Brooke so they broke up after like a week. God, they're all so stupid," exclaimed Tom. Alex nodded in agreement—everyone knew that Katie and Brooke were both complete airheads, and Josh was the biggest player ever.

"What about the football team?" asked Alex.

"Coach made Rob the captain after you seemed to be gone for good. We're doing alright, third in the region, but practice isn't half as fun without you, Alex," said Tom sincerely.

Fox, who had been listening in on the conversation, interrupted the two of them. "So, Alex and Tom, you're both on the football team? I used to be captain of the football team in school as well—I bet I could beat you."

"How about we play a 30-minute match, then, you and Eagle against us two?" asked Alex. "If we win, you give us ten quid, and if you win, we'll give you ten."

"Fine," said Fox, waving Eagle over.

So the epic football match began, with an abandoned ball they found lying around, and Wolf and Snake refereeing. Fox and Eagle, being trained SAS soldiers, had strength and speed on their side. Tom and Alex, despite being smaller, had been playing football together for years and knew all of each other's moves. This meant that the two sides were evenly matched, and with two minutes left the score was 2-2.

At this point, Alex had the ball and was dribbling it towards the goal. Fox and Eagle started doing a pincer movement, using one of the SAS fighting techniques, to try and force Alex to lose possession. However, they hadn't factored in Alex's spy skills. Noticing the two men coming at him from either side, he twisted round and kicked the ball to Tom, who then swerved round Eagle and curled the ball into the goal. Before Alex and Tom could start celebrating, however, a voice from behind them interrupted the game.

"Now I want you to turn around slowly with your hands up, or you can say goodbye to your friends."

Turning around, Alex saw Wolf and Snake, bound and gagged, held struggling by four masked men. Two more men had their guns out, one pointing at Wolf and the other at Snake. The rest of the men had their guns trained on Fox, Eagle, Tom and himself. The man who had spoken wore an expensive suit and was standing a little to the side, smiling cruelly.

"What do you want?" asked Alex defiantly.

"I think you know the answer to that, Alex Rider," said the man, smiling to reveal perfect white teeth. He tossed a small silver coin across to land in the grass at Alex's feet, and Alex knew that if he looked carefully he would find a scorpion engraved on it. "After all, we never forget, we never forgive."

At these words, Alex's worst suspicions were confirmed and he adopted his blank mask of indifference to hide the turmoil he was facing inside. The SAS men paled, remembering from their training that this was the motto of Scorpia, one of the deadliest organisations in the world.

"Then take me, if that is what you want, but let my friends go. They haven't done anything to deserve this."

"I disagree, Mr Rider. They are, after all, SAS men, are they not, and you cannot truly believe that the SAS does not wish to harm us? No, they must come as well."

"At least let Tom go, he's just a civilian, you can't-"

"I do not think you are in a position to tell me what I can and cannot do," interrupted the man. "I will not risk letting him go free to sound the alarm. Besides, he may come in useful later. Now, any more protests and your friends will get a bullet in the head."

He motioned to the remaining men, who began to advance on the four of them. Not wanting to put their friends in even more danger, they had no choice but to let themselves be bound and gagged as well. Alex tried once again to get them to let Tom go, but to no avail. The six of them were roughly bundled into a waiting van, which immediately drove off.

**A/N: Would like your opinion—how dark do you think I should make their captivity? Please PM me or leave a review!**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages, I've just been really busy recently **** Hope you like this!**

**Chapter 8**

The journey was spent in silence—not that they could make much noise with gags in their mouth—as each individual contemplated about what might happen to them. The future did not look promising at all—they were at the mercy of one of the most ruthless organisations in the world, travelling to an unknown location and with nobody knowing that they were missing.

Eventually the van stopped, and the prisoners were forced out of the van at gunpoint. They were shoved towards a concrete building, standing in the middle of a deserted compound surrounded by a fence topped with barbed wire. On the other side of the fence was dense woodland, which gave them no clue as to where they were.

Inside the building, they were marched down a narrow windowless corridor and thrown into a bare cell. Still with guns held to their heads, K Unit plus Alex and Tom couldn't make any moves, even when their gags and bindings were removed. All they could do was glare at their captors, who didn't show any emotion. Eventually, the guards left, the heavy metal door clanging shut behind them. There was the sound of a key turning in the lock, retreating footsteps, then silence.

Immediately Eagle went to try the door, but it was definitely locked. Wolf and Snake were checking the walls for any possible weaknesses, whilst Alex and Ben scanned the room for cameras and bugs. They all came up negative.

"We're properly screwed," concluded Eagle, as they all sat down on the floor, leaning against the walls of the cell.

Wolf went into leadership mode, assessing the situation. "OK, guys, let's look at things objectively. We don't know our location. How long do you think it'll be 'til someone notices we're missing?"

"Well we were only meant to report back to camp by Monday morning, so nobody will suspect anything until at least then," said Snake.

"What about the kid, though?" asked Wolf. "Surely his parents will realise by tonight when he doesn't go home?"

"Hey, the 'kid' can hear you, you know?" complained Tom. "Besides, I wouldn't be too optimistic."

"What's that supposed to mean?" growled Wolf.

"It's just that…Tom's parents aren't on the best of terms with each other," explained Alex.

"Understatement of the millennium," snorted Tom. "It'd be a miracle if they stopped throwing things at each other for long enough to notice I'm not home."

"So…we're properly screwed," repeated Eagle, getting a glare from Wolf for his efforts.

However, Wolf couldn't deny the claim—K Unit had never been in a worse position.

"Can someone please explain to me what's going on here?" asked Tom after a minute of silence, trying his best to hide how nervous he was. After all, this was Alex's world, not his. "All I know is that we've been kidnapped by some dude who wears way too much cologne and that even the SAS looks freaked out, which isn't exactly helping me to calm down."

Alex winced. He hated the fact that he'd got someone else he cared about into trouble. "I'm so sorry, Tom, you don't deserve this at all. It's my fault—as soon as I come into contact with someone, they get hurt. I promise I won't let them hurt you."

"Hurt…me?" asked Tom in a small voice. Alex winced again.

Ben, who had been silent so far, spoke up. "I think it's time you explained something to all of us, Alex. How exactly did you get tangled with Scorpia, one of the most deadly terrorist organisations in the world? Sorry, Tom."

"That's OK," said Tom weakly, looking pale.

Alex sighed. "Well, let's just say that I got involved with them and then killed several of their board members, which wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had. One of them was during that mission with you," he added, nodding towards Ben. "They've been trying to get revenge ever since, which is why I came to Brecon Beacons, actually. It was for my protection."

"You killed a Scorpia board member?" asked Eagle, shocked. When Alex nodded, he said, "Woah, man, that's so cool!"

"Alex…" said Tom, "what did you mean when you said you wouldn't let them hurt me? What are you hiding?"

"Nothing, I was just-"

"Cut the crap, Alex, I know you're lying. Please, just tell me the truth."

Snake chose this moment to intervene. "Tom, you have to understand that Scorpia are completely ruthless. They'll use any means they can to get what they want, and at the moment they want revenge for all the trouble Alex has caused them. So they'll do everything they can to get to him, including targeting the people he's close to. Soldiers get RTI training as part of their overall training, but you're a civilian. It's our job to protect you."

"When you say RTI training, are you talking about…torture?"

"We like to call it interrogation, but…yeah, basically," admitted Eagle.

Tom gulped. He'd seen movies where the main character was tortured, but it didn't really seem real to him until now, when he was faced with the possibility.

"Don't worry, Tom," said Alex, slinging an arm around his friend's shoulders. "I'll get you out of here as soon as I can. I'll use my ninja spy skills."

Tom gave a weak chuckle, but still felt slightly sick. After all, he'd just been told that he could be tortured at any moment. However, before he could reply, the door of the cell was unlocked and an Asian man walked in.

As soon as Alex heard the door being unlocked, he leapt to his feet, as did the rest of K Unit. The person who walked in was definitely not who he wanted to see.

"Dr Three," growled Alex.

The man gave a slight smile. "Ah, Mr Rider. How nice to see you again. I'm afraid I can't stop for long, though. It's time one of you got a taste of my…hospitality. How about the dark-haired boy?"

Immediately two guards started making their way towards Tom.

"No!" Alex shouted. "Don't you dare touch him! Take me instead!"

"But Alex, it is hardly entertaining to receive the same guest twice. I must insist on someone new."

"Please! I'll let you do anything to me, just don't hurt Tom. You can—you can do level 3! You've never tried that on me before." Alex was desperate.

"Hmm…" Dr Three looked torn. "Alright, Rider, I'll accept your offer." He clicked his fingers and the guards grabbed Alex's arms, dragging him out of the cell. Tom cried out, but the door had already closed, and Alex was left to his fate.

**A/N: Dun dun dunnn…all I'm gonna say is that level 3 torture ain't pretty!**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages! Exams just took over my life, so I decided to do the sensible thing and write this instead of revising :P**

**Chapter 9**

Alex was led down the corridor by the guards, Dr Three leading the way in front. A small, logical part of his brain argued that what he'd just said was exceedingly stupid—there was a reason why Scorpia trainees were only taught levels 1 and 2, and that was because those were the levels which sane people used—but overall he was so relieved that he'd been able to spare Tom. After all, Tom was only here due to Alex's stupidity and his reckless decision to visit his old house. Now Alex would have to face the consequences.

...

Back in the cell, Wolf swore loudly and colourfully. The whole reason why he joined the army was to protect kids like Alex from getting hurt, and here he was, sitting back whilst Alex did the brave thing and volunteered himself. He was distracted from his thoughts by Tom's voice, small and uncertain, asking a very good question.

"What did that guy mean when he said he didn't want to have the same guest twice? And how does Alex know who he is? Surely...surely Alex hasn't met him before?"

K Unit looked at each other. They'd vaguely recognised the man from their SAS training days, when they used to have lessons on the world's most dangerous terror organisations. Their fears had been confirmed when Alex addressed the man by his name, which was feared by all. Dr Three—international torture expert.

Snake, being perhaps the most gentle-mannered of the SAS soldiers, answered Tom's question.

"I don't think any of us really know how Cub knows what he does, but the general impression I've got is that they have met before, unfortunately. And...well, let's just say that that man is not the nicest person you'll ever meet. And the whole guest thing? I think it's his twisted way of tryng to make torture sound like a good thing."

"So...are you telling me that Alex has been tortured by him before?" asked Tom frowning.

"Well, your guess is probably as good as mine, but unfortunately it looks that way."

-Back to Alex-

Alex was led into a tiled room, told to take off his shirt, and then handcuffed to a ring in the wall, which was covered in something which looked suspiciously like dried blood. Considering where he was, the chances increased to practically 100%. His ankles were similarly cuffed to another ring. The guards left the room, taking his shirt with them and locking the door behind them, leaving Alex alone with Dr Three, who was over on the other side, examining a variety of cruel-looking instruments on a trolley and muttering to himself under his breath.

Eventually, the man turned around holding a whip, the ends of which had little barbs attached. Alex kept a blank expression, but inside he was trembling with fear. He'd heard about how these whips worked—not only was there the pain from the whipping itself, the barbs dug into the skin and were dragged through the flesh with the movement of the whip.

"So, Alex, ready for this?"

Alex fought to keep his voice steady as he replied, "Ready when you are, Dr Three."

"Good, I like someone with a backbone. Turn around to face the wall."

Alex didn't need to be told twice, obeying his instructions wordlessly. In another situation, he may have given some more lip, but he didn't want to risk Dr Three changing his mind and going to fetch Tom instead.

He was given a split second's notice by the sound of the whip whistling through the air, before it came down hard on his back. Alex gasped—the pain was even worse than he imagined. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Alex mentally prepared himself for the next blow, which came all too quickly. It was all he could do to remain standing and not scream out in pain—he refused to give Dr Three the satisfaction. The whip came down again and again, and Alex could see his blood splattering against the white tiles of the wall. After what seemed like an age, but couldn't have been more than ten minutes, the whipping stopped. Alex gave a quiet sigh of relief, which did not go unnoticed by Dr Three.

"Oh, Alex, I haven't quite finished with you yet. That was just the starter. You can turn around now."

Alex turned around slowly, trying not to aggravate his injuries, and saw that Dr Three had put down the whip and picked up some small spiked objects.

"These are something of my own creation," explained Dr Three. "Each little spike contains a seal, which will be broken in thirty minutes, releasing a deadly poison. I'm going to be placing these under your skin, so the only way to stop yourself from being poisoned is to aremove them. Unfortunately for you, pulling them out is even more painful than putting them in."

With these comforting words, Dr Three made his way over to Alex, assessing him and trying to decide where to place the spikes. Eventually, he started by putting one on the inner side of each of Alex's forearms, pushing the spikes into the skin. Alex bit his lip to stop himself from crying out, which was a bad idea as soon his mouth was filled with the coppery taste of his blood. Dr Three then bent down and rolled up Alex's trousers, before placing one in each of Alex's calves. With the last one, Dr Three smiled (which did nothing to reassure Alex) before putting a hand on Alex's stomach, just above the belly button.

"Ah, the perfect place. The skin is nice and soft here, which should make this more effective."

He took the spike and shoved it in roughly. The pain was unbelievable, and Alex couldn't help but let out a whimper of pain, before recollecting himself. Looking down, it looked as if some maniac had tried to give him a belly button piercing but had missed.

"Goodbye for now, Alex. I do hope to see you again tomorrow, I've got the perfect treat for you," laughed Dr Three, knocking on the door.

There was the sound of unlocking, before the guards entered, unchaining Alex from the wall and leading him back to the cell.

When he arrived back, he was thrust unceremoniously into the room, where he was caught by Fox before he could hit the floor. The guards laughed, throwing his shirt in behind him, before closing the door and locking it behind them.

Alex groaned loudly. Now that the adrenalin was leaving him, his back felt like it was on fire.

"Oh my god, Alex are you OK?" asked Tom.

"I'm fine," said Alex, "just a bit sore, that's all."

"Shut up, kid," growled Wolf, "we all know you're lying."

Snake switched into medic mode. "OK, guys, his back's obviously where the damage has taken place, so let's put him down on his front."

"No!" shouted Alex, well aware of the spike in his stomach. "You have to get the spikes out first." He then explained what Dr Three had told him about them.

"What did they look like?" asked Snake. "Were they slightly curved?"

"Yeah, I think so," answered Alex, trying to remember. "I think they were like hooks."

Snake shook his head. "This is bad. Normally I'd give an anaesthetic before trying to take something like that out, because the hook does more damage as it comes out. But, given the circumstances...Cub, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. It's gonna hurt a hell of a lot, OK?"

"Yeah, sure, just get it over with," Alex replied, psyching himself up.

"OK...Tom, roll up Cub's shirt and put it in his mouth, so he doesn't bite his tongue off. Wolf and Eagle, pin him down so he doesn't thrash about. Fox, hold his head in your lap so his back doesn't touch the floor—I don't want it getting infected."

Everyone did as they were told, arranging Alex so that he was comfortable. Then Snake prepared himself for what he had to do.

"I'm going to start with the one is your right arm, OK?"

Alex nodded, closing his eyes.

"On three. One, two, three!" Snake yanked as hard as he could, knowing that it would be better just doing it quickly than taking it slowly. Alex screamed out loud, this was the most pain he'd ever felt.

"I'm really sorry, Cub," said Snake, as he chucked the spike on the floor. Alex spat out the shirt in his mouth, panting hard.

"Don't worry, Snake, better out than in," he said, chuckling weakly.

Once he'd caught his breath, the shirt was replaced and the procedure repeated. The spikes in his limbs were all taken out, so there was only the one in his stomach left.

"That sick bastard!" exclaimed Snake, when he saw just how deep the last one was. "He could have damaged your internal organs!"

"Just pull it out, yeah?" said Alex, wanting to get it over with. He was exhausted from the pain, and he just wanted to go to sleep.

"OK. Everyone, hold on tight. This is going to be bad," said Snake. He braced himself, then pulled.

Alex screamed so loudly that everyone's ears were ringing. When it was out, he spat out his shirt, now looking the worse for wear, and started cursing in all the languages he knew. Some of the things he said in Spanish even made Wolf blush, and when the others turned to him, he refused to translate. Eventually, Alex exhausted his extensive vocabulary and slowly drifted off to sleep.

In sleep, Alex looked more his age than when he was awake, as his mask was down, revealing his emotions. K Unit, looking at him now, couldn't believe that this was the same boy who had fought Scorpia members on a daily basis. There was a small frown on his face, as if he was having a bad dream, probably due to the pain from his wounds. Now that there was a chance to relax slightly, they realised something that they should have seen at the beginning—there was what looked like an old bullet wound on his chest. Eagle was the one to spot it first.

"Hey, guys, what's this? Is it what I think it is?" he asked, pointing to the puckered red circle.

Snake could immediately see that it was what they were all thinking. "It's a bullet wound, definitely. It's so close to his heart...Alex is lucky to be alive! Such a wound would take weeks in hospital to recover from."

Tom frowned. "The only time Alex told me he was in hospital, he went on a mission after a few weeks."

"Bloody MI6!" exclaimed Snake loudly, his Scottish accent coming through more prominently in his anger. "They don't even let him recover from life-threatening injuries!"

"Snake, lower your voice, you're going to wake him!" hissed Fox. Under normal circumstances, Alex would already have been woken up by the noise, which just went to show how tired he was. Snake continued muttering angrily under his breath but kept the noise down, knowing that Alex needed his sleep in order to recover more quickly. The quiet eventually took its toll on all of them, and one by one, they all drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it in all its goriness! More torture coming up next chapter, but it'll be very different…See you soon!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for the delay (although you're probably used to it now :P). No real excuse...**

**Chapter 10**

They were awoken the next morning by the sound of the door to their cell being opened. Immediately they were on high alert, prepared for any eventuality. It came as rather an anticlimax when a guard pushed in a tray of food and two jugs of water. However, they were surprised to see a pile of rags to clean Alex's wounds with. As soon as the door had been relocked, Eagle began to talk.

"Huh, these people are weird. They practically kill you and then help you tend your wounds?"

"Probably just don't want me dying on them before they can get all their fun," said Alex cynically.

Snake started to dip the rags in the water, whilst Wolf split the food into equal portions for all of them. It was Snake who asked the question on everybody's mind.

"So, Cub, how did you get that bullet wound on your chest?"

Looking down, Alex noticed that his chest was bare, the angry red wound visible for all to see. He thought about lying for a second, but looking at their faces he knew they'd never believe him.

"I was sniped," he admitted, sighing.

"By...?" asked Wolf, pressing for answers.

"By Scorpia, obviously. I'd just started getting on their nerves so it was time for them to get rid of me. I was stepping off the pavement at the time, otherwise I would be dead." The casualness with which Alex talked about his near-death shocked K Unit, but they kept quiet.

After Alex had had his wounds cleaned, with only a slight tightening of the face betraying any signs of discomfort, everyone settled down to eat. Not a moment after they had finished, the guards came in again, this time wheeling in a TV set. Immediately, Alex's mind began to think of torture possibilities, but unless it involved watching mind-numbing daytime TV forever, he was coming up with nothing. A niggling thought at the back of his mind, which he tried to ignore, told him that watching Jack's last moments was torturous enough, but that thought was dispelled when one of the guards put a DVD into the player.

The other occupants of the cell were as confused as he was about the new developments and watched the actions with wariness. The DVD started playing with a voiceover, which was unfortunately the voice of Dr Three.

"_Dear Alex and friends_," began the voice. "_Unfortunately I cannot be here to watch this with you, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it just as much without me. In the following short clip, you will find out some things about Alex that he would rather not have you know, and I am sure that he has been keeping this from you up until now. Please discuss afterwards in a calm and rational manner._"

The voice stopped, and the scene shifted to reveal a poor-quality surveillance image, the angle showing that the camera was mounted above the heads of the people. However, Alex could still clearly be identified, listening with a group of people to Dr Three in a whitewashed room with no windows. Dr Three made a motion, and Alex and an unremarkable looking man stepped forward. The man was chained to the wall, and Alex picked up a small silver knife. He began to torture the man, keeping a blank expression throughout. Even though the video had no sound, it was obvious that the man was screaming in pain and writhing around on the ground.

The screen faded to black, and the guards wheeled the TV set away, locking the door behind them. There was a moment of silence, before the explosion. Throughout the scene, K Unit had become more and more angry, watching someone they thought they knew doing terrible things to someone else. Alex, on the other hand, had known almost immediately what was going to happen, yet he couldn't look away. He was left looking pale, but in their rage, no one noticed apart from Tom.

"And to think we trusted you as part of our team!" shouted Wolf.

"We wanted to help you, to make you feel more at home than last time!" added Eagle.

"I cared about your welfare, and this is how you repay us?" asked Snake angrily.

But worst of all was Fox's quiet disappointment. "I can't believe you joined those people, Alex."

This continued for a while, until Tom interrupted in a small voice. "Maybe we should let Alex explain himself. I get that what he did was inexcusable, but maybe we're missing something. I mean, why would Scorpia want to hurt one of their own so badly?"

Everyone had calmed down enough that they could see that what Tom said was true. They turned towards Alex expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"I admit, I joined Scorpia for a while," said Alex. "But," he added before they could start raging again, "I was misinformed. An assassin lay down his life for me, and before he died he told me to find Scorpia. They told me that MI6 had double-crossed my parents and killed them. I mean, what was I meant to believe? I didn't know anything about them, and then I learnt that they were killed by an organisation I thought did the right thing. I joined them, and then by the time I learnt the truth it was too late. You can't just quit Scorpia. Ever since, they've been on my case, trying to get me killed."

"You trusted the words of a dying assassin?" asked Fox. "Only you could get into such situations, Alex," he said affectionately, his earlier anger abating.

"Well, it's not like trusting Ash turned out so well," retorted Alex.

"Who's Ash?" asked Eagle, his own anger also fading.

"The guy Fox killed on the mission we did together," replied Alex. "He was my godfather."

Fox paled. "Alex, I'm so sorry, I didn't know..."

Alex's face hardened. "He deserved it. He placed the bomb on the plane my parents were flying on when he joined Scorpia."

"He killed your parents?" asked Tom, shocked. "In that case, he totally deserved what he got."

Alex smiled. Tom wasn't perhaps the most tactful person in the world, but he understood others very well. Alex couldn't ask for a better friend.

**A/N: OK, so I don't think this was the best I've ever written, but I kinda needed them to establish some of this stuff about Alex and get it all in the open. Next chapter should be better.**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry! I'm so bad at updating! But thanks to all my faithful readers and followers for sticking with me **

**Chapter 11**

The group was not allowed much time to themselves, before the door was unlocked again and a large number of guards entered the cell. Everyone was taken out, despite Alex's protests, and then marched down the corridor. Alex was separated from the rest of the group and taken into a room. Inside, he was forced into a chair, and straps were pulled tight across his arms, legs, waist, chest, and even across his forehead, so that he couldn't move at all. The TV set was brought in again to face Alex. Dr Three entered the room and went to talk to Alex. "Ah, Rider, how nice it is to see you again. You know, the Egyptian desert holds many secrets. After the unfortunate passing of dear Razim, we recovered as much of his research as possible, and found quite an interesting video. I'd like to share it with you now, so I hope you enjoy the show!" He left the room, and the TV screen flickered into life.

Meanwhile, K Unit and Tom had been led into an adjacent room, where one side consisted of a large window, presumably one-way. Through the window, they watched nervously as they saw Alex being put into the chair and then the TV set brought in again. From their position, they could see both the screen and Alex clearly. They saw the change that came over Alex as the picture came into focus. From initial confusion, his expression quickly turned into complete and utter fear, as he started to struggle in vain against the bonds, attempting to turn his head. Eventually Alex closed his eyes, but some sort of shock was administered to him which caused his eyes to fly open again. He was shouting now, but they couldn't hear what he was saying. Apparently the room was soundproofed.

This reaction confused K Unit greatly, as they couldn't see anything that would cause such a controlled person to lose it like that. However, Tom recognised the person in the video. It was Jack, but the surroundings were unfamiliar. What was going on? An uneasy feeling fell over K Unit as Tom told them who the person in the video was. At the moment, Alex looked a lot like what he was like the morning they left the SAS camp. In the more recent events, they had forgotten this incident. Would they finally find out what had happened to Jack?

The video had progressed to show her getting into a Jeep, which just increased K Unit's fears, remembering what Alex had been saying that morning. Now, Alex was looking even more agitated, but every time he tried to look away he was given an electric shock. Jack drove through some gates into a desert. The video only continued for a few more moments. Soon a massive fireball filled the screen, leaving no room for the imagination.

Tom screamed, jumping to his feet and banging on the window, vainly trying to believe that this was some sort of sick joke, but he knew inside that this was really how Jack had died. K Unit felt bad, but seeing that they didn't know Jack, they didn't feel her death so much as Tom or Alex did. All they could do was try to calm Tom down, seeing as they couldn't reach Alex. If they weren't so focused on Tom at the moment, they would have seen that a change had come over the other boy. Instead of being angry and full of loud grief like Tom, Alex seemed to have closed in on himself, pulling the blank mask completely and utterly over his face. Even his eyes looked dead now. Watching his worst nightmare again was the straw that broke the camel's back, and had caused some serious damage. Would he ever recover?

**A/N: OK, so everything in Razim's fort was probably destroyed, but I thought this was a nice idea, so I just went with it anyway :P Hope you liked it, please review!**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for not updating, I'm kinda losing my way with this story a bit...I think it's going to wrap up in a couple more chapters **

**Chapter 12**

It wasn't until they were all back in the cell that the others realised that Alex was acting differently. Whereas before, even though their situation seemed hopeless, Alex had remained optimistic and held his head with pride, he now slumped down against the wall, all the fight having left him. Looking down at him now, all K Unit saw was not the strangely fearless SAS shooting instructor or even the stupidly courageous teenage spy, but a broken boy thrust too early into an adult world. In the government's attempt to use him for the greater good, they had irreparably damaged him.

Soon enough, the guards were back to take Alex out again. The resignation on his face as he left the cell was clear to see, and it worried the others. Tom especially could not understand how such a strong-willed person could have changed so quickly into such a defeated one. In his memory, Alex had never acted like this, and if he was honest with himself, it scared him. However, he was Tom Harris, and if he was ever scared, he would mask it with his sarcastic humour and bad jokes. Which was why, as they waited for Alex, K Unit had to endure a constant stream of 'knock knock' jokes which drove all of them crazy (apart from Eagle, who actually thought they were funny).

Meanwhile, Alex had been cuffed by his wrists and ankles to a chair, awaiting his next punishment. It was to his surprise, therefore, when a teenage girl, perhaps a few years older than him, walked in. Despite his situation, Alex couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, although the image was ruined slightly by the knife she held in her hand.

"You must be Alex," she said smiling, her voice betraying a slight Russian accent. "I am Anastasiya, Dr Three's new assistant. I am an art student, and Dr Three kindly allowed me to practice my skills on you."

Alex looked at her in silence, no snarky remarks like he used to give. After all, what was the point? Everyone he cared about was either dead or stuck in this prison with him.

Anastasiya examined Alex's bare chest, frowning. "I cannot find a suitable space for my artwork. You have a perfectly toned body, which is wonderful, but there are too many scars! There is the round one by your heart, and the fresh one in your stomach...I will have to downsize my plans." After muttering to herself a while longer, she positioned her knife and made the first incision.

Twenty painful minutes later, Anastasiya finished her design, and wiped away the last of the blood with a damp cloth. Looking down, Alex saw an intricately detailed scorpion carved into his chest.

"So, what do you think of my work?" asked Anastasiya, washing her hands in a sink in the corner of the room.

"It's...very realistic," said Alex, not quite sure what to say about his new flesh carving.

"Thank you, I was not sure if the proportions were right. I am glad that you like it." Anastasiya was now taking her long blonde hair out the bun it was in, holding a couple of hairpins in her hand.

"I have a brother called Aleksandr, although of course I always call him Sasha at home. It is the Russian shortening, like how you shorten William to Bill, or Richard to Dick. It is a nice name. Sasha is probably your age, you look quite similar. In fact-"

She was interrupted by a knocking on the door, which made her jump and drop one of her hairpins. She swore in Russian, bending down to try and find it.

"Anastasiya, we must be going now," came the muffled voice through the door. "Say goodbye to your guest."

Anastasiya gave up the search for her hairpin, a strange expression on her face. "Dasvidaniya, Alex," she said, before leaving the room.

When the guards uncuffed Alex from the chair, he stood up before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion. After a literal kick up the backside, he slowly stood up and regained his balance, before heading back to the cell with his escort.

Once inside, he felt the first tentative shoots of a new hope filling him. He smiled at the rest of the group, revealing the hairpin in his clenched fist.

**A/N: Woooooo! Alex can almost smell the freedom! But first he has to escape the guards and find his way back to civilization…**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Here's the next chapter **** I know I haven't been replying to reviews lately. I still really appreciate them, I just think you'd rather I spend time updating the story than spend my time telling you that I will **

**Chapter 13**

"How did you get that?" asked Wolf immediately. "And is that a scorpion on your chest?"

"My most recent torturer has a passion for art, apparently, so she was testing out her carving skills," Alex replied, making a face. "And she may or may not have dropped the hairpin as she was leaving," added Alex, a small smile coming onto his face for the first time in weeks. He immediately turned towards the door and started picking the lock.

"Wait, 'she'?" asked Fox, quick to spot this interesting little detail.

"Yeah, she said she was Three's new apprentice or something," replied Alex. "A bit older than I am, Russian, called Anastasiya, has a little brother called Aleksandr who looks like me..." There was a click as the door was unlocked.

"Nope, don't know anybody like that," said Fox, the others shaking their heads as well.

Alex put a finger to his lips, before slowly opening the door to their cell and looking around. Considering their status, the security around them was pretty lax. They didn't even have guards by their door—the closest one was down the end of the corridor. This made Alex uneasy, but he decided to just take the lack of security as a bonus. He closed the door again before turning to the others.

"OK, closest guard is by the exit at the end of the corridor. He'll see us as soon as we get out of here, so I vote some of us run at him before he can pull a gun on us. We knock him unconscious, take his weapons and then make a break for it."

"Sounds like a plan," said Wolf, the rest of K Unit following their leader. "Cub, you're small and speedy, you go with Eagle and Fox, me and Snake will wait here with Tom."

Alex nodded. On the count of three, they burst through the door and ran like the wind. But they'd underestimated the length of the corridor. As soon as they left the cell, the guard had turned around and seen them. After a split second of surprise, he'd burst into action. In the end, it was his indecision which led to his downfall and the success of the escape. Instead of drawing his gun immediately, he thought about sounding the alarm, half turning towards some sort of emergency button on the wall beside him. By the time he'd decided to deal with the breakout himself, Alex and the others were already onto him. In no time, the guard had been knocked out cold.

Searching him, Eagle found two handguns, and there was also a semi-automatic leaning against the wall. Wolf, Snake and Tom came and joined them to discuss what to do next and how to dish out the weapons between them.

"Only three weapons and five of us who can use them," said Wolf. "Some of us will have to go without."

"Actually, five weapons," said Alex, pulling a pair of knives out of a hidden compartment in the man's trouser leg. "Who can throw knives?"

"It's not part of SAS training, so I'm gonna say it's just me and you, Alex," replied Ben.

"You can say that again," said Wolf. "Where'd you learn to chuck knives, Fox?"

"Just something I picked up for a mission in Japan. I'm not that good, but I can get some sort of damage in, at least."

"Great. You two take the knives, I'll take the semi and then Eagle and Snake get a pistol each."

Once the weapons were sorted, they took a look outside. Guards were patrolling the perimeter, which was a metal fence topped with barbed wire. It seemed as if each guard had a section to patrol back and forth. A plan formed in Alex's mind, and it seemed as if Wolf had the same idea.

"We take out the guards in front of us, take one of them and run to the fence. Use the body as a protection against the barbed wire. Snake, Eagle and Tom get over the fence first whilst we provide covering fire, then the rest of us go."

The others nodded in agreement, Alex adding, "Take out the first guards with the knives, so there's no noise to alert the others until the last possible moment."

With the plan agreed upon, it was now time to execute it. Alex and Ben crept towards the exit, knives in hands, and waited for the moment when the guards came into view. As soon as they could get a clear shot, Alex threw his knife and watched it cut a deadly glittering arc through the air before it met its mark. Ben's throw followed close behind, taking out the other guard.

Immediately, all of them burst out, Ben and Snake carrying the body of the nearest dead guard between them, from which Alex took a knife back. Some of the other guards close by had seen the commotion and were now running towards them whilst drawing their own weapons, but Wolf immediately started shooting them in the arm and leg. Snake gave his gun to Ben before picking up the body and throwing it so that it lay over the top of the fence, providing a macabre barrier against the barbed wire. With a leg up from Eagle, he climbed over and then helped to pull Tom up, who was trying hard not to look at the body under him. Eagle then also made his way across the fence, with some help from Snake, and started to provide covering fire from the other side of the fence.

So far so good. Ben gave his gun to Alex, and then was helped over the fence by his teammates. Time was running out—someone had sounded the alarm, and the compound was starting to swarm with guards, who were starting to get some shots in and were edging ever closer. It was only luck that meant no-one was hurt yet.

"Wolf, go first. I'm smaller, so I'll be easier to pull over quickly," Alex shouted.

Wolf hesitated for a split second, unwilling to leave a teammate behind, but he saw the logic in Alex's statement and was soon safely on the other side of the fence. Now there was just Alex left, shooting indiscriminately with the gun. Two empty clicks told him that he and Eagle were both out of bullets, so he dropped the weapon, put the knife between his teeth and started climbing up the fence. The guards were closing in—he could see Ben's anxious face above him, ready to pull him over as soon as he got within reach.

One more Herculean effort and he felt a hand grab him, pulling him over the fence, but at the same time, one of the guards grabbed his leg. Ben's grip on him faltered, unable to support the weight of two people. Alex let go of the fence with one of his hands and grabbed the knife, stabbing the guard viciously in the hand. The guard screamed and let go, the knife still sticking out of him like some sort of gruesome Halloween joke, allowing Alex to be pulled over into safety.

"Run!" he shouted. They didn't need to be told twice, fleeing the scene before any guards got out and started chasing them. They were free now—they just had to make sure they didn't get caught again.

**A/N: I don't know anything about military stuff, so sorry if I've gotten anything wrong in this chapter factually (if I have, please tell me because I'd be curious to know)**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: I'm so bad at updating! Sorry and virtual cookies for everyone who's still following this story **

**Chapter 14**

They kept going until Tom, who had not been trained for long-distance running, collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Alex was not faring much better, the exertion reopening some of his wounds, which were now bleeding sluggishly. Tom, however, was retching into some bushes.

"Tom, mate, are you alright?" asked Alex, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, wincing at the movement.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just go around puking into bushes all the time," replied Tom sarcastically. "No, I'm freaked out, OK? That guy on the fence, he was still warm and I put my hand on his face and...How do you guys do it? How can you just go around casually killing people like that?"

"It's not like we enjoy killing people, kid," said Wolf. "Sometimes you've just gotta do what you gotta do."

"Yeah, kill or be killed," added Eagle.

As usual, it was Snake who gave some helpful advice. "Tom, I'm really sorry that you had to see that as a civilian. In the army or the SAS, we get special training to deal with these things, and after your first tour you get assigned a counsellor to help you and make sure you're OK. It doesn't make it easier, but you have the right mindset to be able to move on. It's OK to feel sickened by these actions—it shows that you're not a coldblooded murderer."

"Tom, I've been killing people since I was fourteen," said Alex. "That changes you, you know? That guy was lucky. He probably didn't feel a thing. Some of the people I've killed...they suffered. On my very first mission, a woman was stung to death by a jellyfish. Her face...it was so disfigured I couldn't even tell if it was her at first, only my logic told me it had to be her. And I ran away and didn't even get a chance to think about what I'd done, because I was trying to stop everyone from dying and then I had to shoot the Prime Minister in the hand and everything got so crazy..."

Alex paused, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the emotion was hidden behind a blank mask, but something in his eyes showed his suffering. "When I got home, Jack sent me straight to bed. I spent that night wide awake, replaying every death I'd caused on that mission. Every time I go away, the list just gets longer."

"I'm sorry, Alex, I didn't know," said Tom, feeling bad for making such a big deal out of things when his friend had suffered so much more.

"No, Tom, don't apologise. You're just doing the normal thing. I'm sure when we get back we can arrange something for you. But for the moment, we need to work out where we are and how to get back. Wolf, do the SAS have some sort of emergency contact for these sorts of things?"

"Yeah, we can call base and get someone to pick us up, as long as we find a phone. But I have no idea where we are, we could be miles away from civilisation."

"Well we'd better start moving then," stated Alex, preparing himself for the journey ahead.

Now that there was less of a chance of being recaptured, they continued at a steadier pace, walking instead of running. They had not travelled for very long before Ben broached the subject they had all been avoiding up till now.

"Alex, we saw the video they showed you of Jack's death. I'm really sorry about that."

Alex remained emotionless. "It wasn't any better the second time around."

"Wait, what do you mean, the second time?" asked Eagle.

"I was doing a mission in Egypt, and Jack came with me. They caught both of us and put us in some cells in this desert fort. Jack managed to escape, but it was all a set-up. They made me watch as she left in the Jeep, before they blew her up. They were laughing."

"Those bastards! If I get my hands on them..." Ben trailed off menacingly.

"Sorry, Ben, I got there before you. I killed both of them."

"Wait...you killed them? Like a cold-blooded revenge murder?" asked Wolf warily.

"Not quite, they were trying to kill me at the time. I...I'm not very good at the whole cold-blooded killing thing..."

"Speaking from experience, are we?" asked Eagle semi-jokingly.

"Um...well, Scorpia did kind of ask me to kill the deputy head of MI6, which should've been easy for me seeing as how she messed up my life and how at the time I thought she'd killed my father. But I got there and shot at her, which didn't work because she was behind a glass screen which I didn't see. Afterwards she told me they analysed the shot and it wouldn't have killed her anyway. I missed on purpose, I suppose."

"You sure you didn't just have bad aim?" asked Snake, unconvinced.

"Well, you've admittedly only had one lesson with me, so you might not be able to tell, but I can assure you that training with Scorpia doesn't let you make mistakes like that without some other underlying reason. I just have problems with killing people in cold blood."

"So there's hope for you yet," said Eagle laughing, which lifted the mood.

They continued walking for a while in companionable silence. The trees seemed to be thinning up ahead, so they quickened their pace and soon found themselves by a path through the forest.

"We'll follow the path," decided Wolf. "It'll lead us to civilisation sooner or later."

With this decided, the group continued moving with renewed spirits, their rescue almost touchable. As Wolf said, they eventually came to the boundary of the woods, and beyond the treeline there was a traditional English village, with small white cottages and a village green in the centre. The sign by the road leading into the village proudly pronounced 'Welcome to Dulverton'.

"Alex, you're in no fit state to go walking into village if we don't want them to call the police. Tom, you should come with me. People will be more willing to let me use their phone if I have a kid with me. The rest of you wait here with Alex."

Everyone nodded their agreement to the plan, so Wolf and Tom bade goodbye to the others and walked to the nearest cottage.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Wolf rang the doorbell before waiting patiently for a reply, ushering Tom to stand in front of him in a more prominent position to try and get the sympathy of the occupant. Soon enough, a middle-aged woman answered the door, the aroma of freshly baked cakes wafting out from behind her.

"How can I help you?" she asked warily.

Wolf attempted to smile in a non-threatening manner, but he wasn't that successful if the woman's expression was any indication. "Hi, sorry for interrupting, our car has broken down and my mobile's ran out of battery. My son and I have walked for ages to find some form of habitation, and my pregnant wife is still in the car. Would it be possible for us to borrow your phone to contact some friends to come and pick us up? I promise we'll leave you alone as soon as we can contact them."

The woman's expression softened as she listened to their story, probably helped by the innocent smile Tom was putting on. "Oh you poor dears, of course you can come inside, there's a phone in the hall. Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"Can I get a glass of water, please?" asked Tom. He may not be the best in the class, but he was intelligent and knew that it would be better if the woman didn't hear the telephone conversation.

"Sure, why don't you come into the kitchen with me whilst your dad makes the call? The phone's on the table there," she added, pointing at a side table in the corridor as she passed.

Wolf expressed his thanks and waited until the woman and the boy were in the kitchen and out of earshot before he dialled the SAS emergency number.

"_Hello, Sanitary Angels Service, how may we be of assistance?"_

Wolf snorted at the codename for the SAS—the same initials, but a much stupider service. "Wolf of K Unit reporting. The unit plus extras require pickup from south of Dulverton, and medical assistance."

"_What is your identification number?"_

"94275," replied Wolf. He'd had this number memorised for years, ever since he first passed training.

"_Good to hear from you, K Unit. Assistance will arrive in 2 hours."_

The other side hung up, and Wolf allowed a relieved smile to break out. At that moment, Tom came back out of the kitchen, holding a cake box, followed by the woman.

"Your son is a delight, Mr Harris, you should be very proud of him," she said, smiling at Tom affectionately. Turning to Tom, she said, "Now, dear be sure to share that cake with your family. Wouldn't want you to eat it all by yourself, now!"

"Thanks," said Wolf, trying to hide his confusion at the turn of events. "I've been able to contact my friends and they're on their way."

"Would you like to stay here whilst you wait for them?" asked the woman.

"Thanks for the offer, but we'd best be getting back to my wife before she starts panicking."

"Of course, Mr Harris, I understand. Goodbye, then."

"Thank you, Mrs Maybury, I hope your dog gets better soon," replied Tom as they left the house and started to walk back to where the others were.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Wolf said, "Mr Harris, seriously? Do I look like a Harris to you? What did you say to her anyway?"

"I was just my usual charming self, _Dad_," said Tom, an innocent expression on his face that fooled nobody. "Besides, as your son we have to have the same surname. And, we got an awesome chocolate cake for free."

Wolf huffed but didn't know what to say to the kid—after all, he was undeniably very helpful just now. So they walked the rest of the way in silence until they saw the others waiting at the treeline. As soon as they reached them, Tom started to recount the story of what happened, earning laughs from Alex and K Unit and a glare from Wolf as he told them about 'Mr Harris' and other things. They then dug into the cake, which Wolf had to admit was amazing—and not just because they were all starving.

Soon enough, a van with a Sanitary Angels Service logo on the side came up the road, and they came out of the trees to get the driver's attention. As the van slowed down to a stop, a man jumped out from the passenger side of the cab, and asked the traditional security questions which were answered correctly by the SAS members.

Everyone piled into the back of the van, where a medic was waiting with some of his equipment. He took one look at Alex and immediately dragged him over, cleaning his wounds with antiseptic and then covering them with bandages. Once he deemed Alex to be as OK as possible with the limited field equipment, he checked over K Unit and Tom, muttering to himself all the time about the fact that they managed to involve not one but two children, one of which was badly injured. Thankfully the others only had a few scratches from their escape, which helped to calm the medic down. The rest of the journey was spent in companionable quiet, everyone just glad that they were on their way to real safety, with little chance of anyone hunting them down again.

They arrived at SAS camp just as the sun was beginning to set. As they jumped out of the back of the van, K Unit was surprised to see the Sergeant waiting for them by the gates, with an expression of relief on his face. Standing next to him was Alex's tutor, Mr Meadows, looking similarly relieved, if not more so—after all, he wasn't a hardened Army man.

"Thank God you guys managed to get back," Mr Meadows said, the Sergeant nodding in agreement. "I turned up for tutoring and you'd all just disappeared!"

This time it was the Sergeant's turn to speak. "K Unit, what the hell happened? I thought I made it perfectly clear that Agent Rider was to be protected under all circumstances. And what's the other kid doing here?" he said, noticing Tom, who was staring in awe at the SAS camp.

"We were captured by Scorpia, or the remnants of it. And the 'other kid' is my friend Tom Harris. He was taken with us and I can attest to his loyalty. He won't be spilling any secrets," said Alex, looking the Sergeant in the eye.

The Sergeant sighed. Alex Rider seemed to attract trouble to him like a magnet. "Well, then, Agent Rider, I want a full explanation in my office now. Wolf, you come too. The others can find Tom a place to sleep for the night, but I'll expect him to be off site by tomorrow."

With that, he turned back towards his office, Alex and Wolf following behind, whilst the others went with Mr Meadows towards the cabins.

**A/N: Haha, almost forgot about Mr Meadows :P When I was originally planning this story, Mr Meadows was going to have a much bigger role in the story, but then my imagination just carried me away and it ended up like this! I don't think I can sustain this story for much longer, probably just a few more chapters. I feel like I set out to try and heal Alex after everything he's suffered through, and now he has the friends he's going to be able to do that soon…**


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